This story gave me all the feels, #Roommates. There is nothing like the blessing of a good school bus driver because these are the people who get the babies to and from school safely.
#CurtisJenkins is not only good at his job, he exceeds expectations because he’s built relationships with the children he drives as well as their families. On the last day before winter break began, the students who ride Jenkins’ school bus home from #LakeHighlandsElementarySchool in #Dallas were treated to a special surprise.
The bus was packed with presents, one for each student, according to @nbcdfw. “We talked about the things that they would want and I made a mental note of it and wrote it down,” Jenkins said.
He originally planned to host a gift exchange but his wife pointed out some of the kids may not be able to bring a gift. So the Jenkins decided to buy presents with their own cash.
“No hesitation,” said his wife Shaneqia Jenkins. “He’s always wanting to do something for the kids, he’s been talking about it for months.”
He set aside a little money from each paycheck to buy puzzles, games and small electronics for the kids.
“Seeing the faces of those kids was more than anything that I could ever do with the money,” Curtis Jenkins said.
“He is the most amazing bus driver,” said Katrina Clift, the mother of an 11-year-old boy on his bus route. “He’s always good to him and all the kids on the bus.”
Clift said Jenkins is generous all year and for Thanksgiving, he even bought her family a turkey.
“It literally made me cry. I hung up the phone with him, I went over to my husband and I put my head on his chest and I just cried,” Clift said. “It makes me feel like I belong and I mean something to this community, especially to the people who love my children.”
Jenkins said when a coworker learned that he was paying for all the gifts himself, she insisted on buying a bicycle for one of his students. Another parent gave him $100 to help in the gifting.
Jenkins, who has worked for Richardson ISD for seven years, said he was motivated to give because he remembers being the child who didn’t get much for Christmas.
“I had an auntie that would buy a pack of socks and she would give us all one pack of socks and wrap it,” Jenkins said. “When you’re going to school and you have a hole in your socks, that new pair of socks meant something to you.”
Jenkins said his work is his calling and he hoped to show each child they are valued and loved.
“I’m not at a job, I’m on a mission from God,” Jenkins said. “I don’t say anything about religion to the kids. I just let them know whatever they love is fine with me, just love somebody on the way.”
I know, I need tissues after reading this story, too, #Roommates.
TSR STAFF: Christina C! @cdelafresh
